http://kafila.org/2010/05/04/4128/ The ban on SIMI and Indian democracy
Dr Shahid Badar, national president of Students Islamic Movement of India, recently decided not to contest any more the ban on SIMI, his stated reason being: “to put an end to this mindless, futile, unequal, unethical and unjust exercise in which the Government has shamelessly used the Judiciary to achieve its ends of casting a shadow of criminality on the entire muslim community. I have therefore chosen not to contest the declaration of the central govt.” This is the full text of the affidavit filed by him before the *Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal.* ** *BEFORE THE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJIV KHANNA,* *Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal,* *Delhi High Court Building, Sher Shah Road, New Delhi * *In Re: Students Islamic Movement of India* I, Shahid Badar, son of Shri Badre Alam, aged about 38 years, resident of Village Manchobha, P.O. Kakrahta, P.S. Sadar, District Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, presently at New Delhi, do hereby solemnly affirm and state on oath as under: 1. I was the President of the Students Islamic Movement of India (hereafter, SIMI) on 27/09/01 when for the first time the Central Govt declared the organisation an ‘unlawful association’. The declaration by the Central Govt. under Sn. 3 (1) was accompanied with a direction under the proviso to sn. 3 (3) that the declaration was to have immediate effect, i.e. even before it was adjudicated and confirmed or cancelled by the Tribunal under sn. 4 (3). Being a law-abiding organisation, from the date of the declaration, i.e. 27/09/01, the organisation ceased to exist. 2. On the date of the declaration itself, the govt. of the day ensured that all the offices of the organisation were sealed and its bank accounts frozen. 3. On the intervening night of the 27th and the 28th of September 2001, before I was informed that SIMI had been declared an unlawful association, I was arrested and charged with being a member of an unlawful association, a cognizable offence under sn. 10 of the UAPA, 1967. My lawyers advise me that this is in violation of a basic principle of ‘Rule of Law’ every law student is taught as part of their course on jurisprudence – criminal sanction cannot be retrospectively applied. 4. While I was still in custody, I was served with a notice by the tribunal constituted to adjudicate the validity of the declaration of SIMI as an unlawful association. As the last president of SIMI before it was declared an unlawful association, I engaged counsel to contest the proceedings on my behalf. When the tribunal upheld the validity of the declaration, I petitioned the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, which was pleased to grant leave to appeal and admit the appeal as Civil Appeal No. 9208 of 2003. 5. The declaration of 27 September 2001, of SIMI as an unlawful association, was to expire on 26 September 2003. However, on 26 September 2003, the govt. issued another notification, once again declaring SIMI an unlawful association. I was still in custody, but once again, contested the declaration and then appealed the decision of the tribunal upholding the declaration, before the Hon’ble Delhi High Court. Vide order dated 04 January 2008, the Hon’ble Supreme Court was pleased to transfer the petition to itself and have it tagged alongwith pending Civil Appeal No. 9208 of 2003. 6. On 8th February 2006 the Central Government once again declared SIMI an unlawful association. When the Tribunal constituted to adjudicate the validity of the notification was pleased to uphold the notification, I once again filed a Special Leave petition. The Hon’ble Supreme Court was pleased to grant leave and the petition is currently still pending before the Hon’ble Supreme Court as C.A. No. 1323/2007. 7. SIMI has therefore been more or less continually banned since September 2001, making a complete mockery of the intention behind the UAPA and the safeguards supposedly built into the statute to prevent abuse. 8. As yet, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has heard none of the three appeals filed by me. 9. On the occasion of the last declaration by the govt. of 07th of February 2008, I once again appeared through counsel and this time the tribunal constituted in terms of the UAPA and presided over by Hon’ble Ms. Justice Gita Mittal, returned a resounding verdict clearly holding that the central govt. had no grounds to declare SIMI an unlawful association. The tribunal therefore cancelled the declaration of the central govt. 10. However, although the tribunal’s report answering the reference was sent to the Central Govt., neither my counsel nor I, were intimated about the fact of the report or the cancellation of the central govt’s declaration of 07th of February 2008. I gathered the news only the next day from media reports. 11. Shockingly however, I also heard, once again from media reports, that the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India had stayed the judgement of the Tribunal in a mentioning motion made before it at 2 p.m. the next day, i.e. the 06thof August 2008. Interestingly, 1. The govt. had not even intimated me, or the lawyers who were representing me, that the tribunal had cancelled the declaration. 2. The govt. had not informed my counsel or me that they intended to mention the matter before the Hon’ble Supreme Court. 3. The Hon’ble Supreme Court did not deem fit to ensure that any attempt was made to intimate my lawyers or me of the mentioning 4. Nevertheless, by order dated 06th August 2008, the Hon’ble Supreme Court had stayed the cancellation of the declaration of the central govt. of SIMI as an unlawful association. 12. That after the present tribunal was constituted as well, I was served with notice to appear in the present proceedings. I therefore asked counsel to appear before this Hon’ble Tribunal and seek information regarding the basis on which the organisation has once again been declared unlawful. 13. However, a perusal of the notification and the background note reveals that it is once again a tissue of the same old lies, with minimal cosmetic changes. 14. From my experience of contesting the declarations of SIMI as an unlawful association, I am left with no other option but to conclude that the intention of the Government seems to be to crush any voices of dissent from marginalized communities. It appears that the central govt. is using the provisions of the UAPA and the good offices of the judiciary to send out a message that some Fundamental Rights are not available to Muslims and that to be Muslim is to be suspect. This is state terrorism. 15. Importantly, in not a single case since the imposition of the first ban on the 27th of September 2001, has any conviction against any member of the association in respect of an ‘unlawful activity’ attained finality before any court of law. Every case registered against members of the association has ended, either in acquittal or discharge of the accused. 16. Insidiously, numerous muslim organisations, many of whom have never had any relationship with SIMI, are sought to be tainted by false, baseless and completely unfounded allegations that they are front organisations or otherwise connected with SIMI. The list increases with every subsequent tribunal constituted. 17. Personally, on every occasion that the matter was contested before the tribunal the central govt. made completely false, unsupported and sweeping allegations against me of fund raising and continuing the activities of the unlawful association. 18. I have never committed any offence whatsoever, either during the period when the declarations have been effective, or before the organisation was declared an unlawful association. 19. I completed my ‘Bachelor of Unani Medicine and Surgery’ (BUMS) programme from Aligarh Muslim University in the year 1998 and run a small clinic in Village Manchobha, where I live, and where I offer my services to people irrespective of their race, caste, class or religion. This is my practice of Islam. 20. My medical practice, and through it, service to the community is very important to me. For several of my clients, I am the only source of medical care. I am therefore not in a position to leave Village Manchobha for extended periods of time. 21. In view of the above facts, I want to put an end to this mindless, futile, unequal, unethical and unjust exercise in which the Government has shamelessly used the Judiciary to achieve its ends of casting a shadow of criminality on the entire muslim community. I have therefore chosen not to contest the declaration of the central govt. 22. The contents of the above affidavit have been read over and explained to me in Urdu. Deponent Verification Verified at New Delhi on this the 01st day of May 2010 that the contents of paragraphs 1 to 21 of the above affidavit are true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information and belief. No part of it is false and nothing material has been concealed therefrom. Deponent -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to greenyo...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
